State of the City: New programs aim to 'build a city where there are enough spots for everyone'

Mayor Mike Duggan says he seeks ways for the city to embrace both newcomers and longtime residents.

If Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's first year in office was about getting city services functioning, he's made inclusion the theme of his second term.

At his second State of the City address on Tuesday evening, he told the invite-only crowd at the Old Redford Theatre on Lahser Road that he will be judged based on whether Detroit's population grows -- and whether it can embrace both newcomers and longtime residents.

“What does the recovery of the city mean if the folks who have been here aren't part of it?” he asked.

“Inclusion doesn't mean that no person ever loses a lease,” he continued. “That's not the way property laws work. It means we build a city where there are enough spots for everyone.”

As part of that effort, Duggan announced two significant new programs.

The first is a new $8 million loan fund designed to help residents improve their homes. The city will offer 0% interest loans of $5,000 to $25,000 to those who have owned or occupied their homes for at least six months and who fit certain income or geographic restrictions. The city expects to announce more details in March.

The second program is targeted toward small business owners. Called Motor City Match, the mayor said it would make $500,000 available every quarter for the next five years for people who want to start a business. Match will be run by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and will help entrepreneurs get started as well as find real estate and rehab it.

“Here is what inclusion is all about: Talent in this world is distributed equally no matter what community. What isn't distributed equally is opportunity.”

The speech was light on details for a program that was originally announced last year at the Mackinac Policy Conference, but he said more details are expected this spring.

The mayor also updated the audience on his plan to address the sky-high rates for Detroit car insurance. He intends to have an “actuarially sound” plan in place in the first half of the year.

“We have to fix this injustice and get people a fair rate for their cars,” he said.

That brought the room at Motor City Java and Tea House, the overflow area for those who couldn't get inside the Old Redford Theatre, to cheers and exclamations.

They were also moved by the story the mayor told of his first year in office. By the numbers, he told the crowd, 911 response times are nearing the 8-minute national average. The murder rate is at its lowest in years. There are 1,000 streetlights a week being installed and the city will be lit 18 months earlier than anticipated. In addition, nearly 3,500 blighted structures have been demolished – and another 4,000 are expected to come down by August. More than 200 parks were reopened and maintained last summer.

But there are still struggles. The mayor had to address the wave of tax foreclosures that are currently affecting the city. More than 66,000 properties in the city face tax foreclosure this year and thousands of Detroit citizens are spending their days at Cobo Hall trying to get on payment plans or find other assistance for their back taxes. If they can't, they may find themselves homeless or forced to leave the city.

“We have to stop the foreclosures,” he told the crowd.

Duggan also called for more affordable housing units to be included in the new developments happening in downtown and Midtown. Twenty percent of housing at the new Orleans Landing development along the eastern riverfront will be affordable housing, as will 20 percent of units at the new Tiger Stadium project. So Duggan said he would be asking the Ilitch family, through their development arm, Olympia Development, to set aside 20 percent of housing units in the new arena districts for low-income families.

Inclusive housing, the mayor said, is “what a city is about.”

That struck a nerve with Olga Stella, vice president of business development at the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. She tweeted: “Love Mayor Mike Duggan's goal of inclusive housing development because 'that's what a city is about.”

Exactly how the affordable housing will happen remains to be seen. But the fact that it was discussed -- and many new programs are being developed, even if details are short now, inspired many around the city.

“After listening to Mayor Mike Duggan, I can't tell you how excited I am about the future of Detroit and my part in it!” tweeted Hajj Flemings, founder of Detroit-based Brand Camp University, at the conclusion of the speech.